Do the new Project Management Course!

During February I facilitated a Project Management Course. There were participants from four organisations. Habitat for Humanity South Africa. Shackdwellers International. Peoples Environmental Planning. And Making of Cities. The course venue was the Josephine Mill in Newlands, Cape Town.

The Old Josephine Mill, venue of the Project Management Course in February

The Project Management Course ran for two days. It covered four phases of project planning and management. For each phase a document drives key decision-making. The slideshow below refers to these phases and document drivers.

Twelve years experience informed the content of the Project Management Course. During this time we bid for a large number of government and municipal tenders. In this process we lost some and we won some. Thereby we learnt the lessons of successful bidding. Here the main lesson is that detailed planning results in successful project management. Therefore our Project Management Course is strong because it works in practice.

Method of Project Management Course

Over the years I adjusted the method and the document drivers. In the process I also fine-tuned a Project Plan and Resource Allocator. This is an Excel model. Here you enter all the work activities into this model. Then you divide these amongst your team members according to their expertise. Thereafter you determine the level of effort for each team member. This means timing the activity in fractions of a person-day. I use this Project Management Course currently. I decide on tenders. The proposals develop according to guidelines in the Project Management Course. I manage the projects according to the same principles.

These document drivers have stood me in good stead. They enable me to decide whether to go for a project. The Excel model is a great project management tool. The model clarifies the level of effort for each work activity. This is important for managing my team. It is critical for managing client expectations. And for managing scope creep, that bane of a project manager’s life.

Success of Project Management Course

The course was a great success because it works in practice. Its practicality is because I use outcomes-based methods for facilitated training. I am able to do this because I am a SETA-qualified Facilitator and Assessor.

Outcomes-based pedagogy is a powerful adult educational instrument. The following are comments from course participants.

Participants’ comments

Crystal West, Habitat for Humanity, SA:   “Easy to understand language, simplified further if needed. Excellent facilitator manual with accurate referencing to page numbers, etc”. –

Claire du Trevou, Peoples Environmental Planning:   “I found the course to be accessible. Difficult concepts/terms were explained well. Thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this course. The constant interactive and reflective tasks allowed me to immediately process the information and make it “real”/relevant to my current work situation. 10 out of 10!! Thank you Paul!!! Am incredibly grateful for all the resources!!”

Walter Fieuw, Making of Cities:   “Paul, I’m honest when I say that this is one of the best courses I’ve attended. Just returned from one Scotland where I studied at one of the best planning schools. Yours is right up there. WORLD CLASS. I’m very grateful that you went to this extent when the numbers dropped out. Know that you’ve made a MOERSE significant contribution to 7 young professionals. Thank you again, Walter”

Skye Dobson, Shackdwellers International (SASDI):   “Perhaps role play could be incorporated in each unit. It was a very useful way to understand. Overall excellent amount of content copvered in short time period Generous sharing of useful resources. Bigger table would have been useful to allow space for folders and computers”

Noah Schermbrucker, Peoples Environmental Planning:   “Very accessible. Opened up ideas but I need to investigate further”.

Salisha Lauton, Habitat for Humanity, SA:   “Very good” (i.e. with respect to facilitation language)…. “Content heavy, spreadsheets were helpful but was not practical”

The Training Room at the Josephine Mill..

Future courses

This is the first Project Management Course I implemented. Unfortunately I did not have all the document drivers ready before the course. Now I have completed all 22 document drivers. In addition, I have updated and checked the Project Plan and Resource Allocator (Excel model). Within the model there are a set of instructions to guide the user.

I have since provided all participants with the document drivers and the Excel model. In addition I offered them a webinar to walk through the use of the model. Because the documents were late, this is at no extra cost.

The document drivers and Excel model are ready for future courses. Then we will ensure more table space for files and computers. In addition we will explain the written procedures for using the Excel model. Accordingly, I am positive that this will address the limitations referred to.

I believe that this course will generate great interest in the market place. Therefore, I aim to sell many more course places. My selling point is that this training adds real value in the critical area of a Project Management Course.

Course Offerings

I plan to build a new website that will focus entirely on capacity building. This course will be the first on that website. In addition to the direct contact courses and webinar you can purchase the document drivers and Excel model Resource Allocator. We will sell these products online through the website. The slide show above explains where those products fit into the process. I will inform all followers of INSITE blogs once the new site is launched.

Custom classroom courses are available in Cape Town. Webinar courses can be arranged for any location of the world at any time. Please inquire by phone, email or via our form on our Contact page and I will send you a Needs Analysis questionnaire and we can go from there.